It wasn't a country or a
city; it was barely even a town. But Nation was Mau's island home, and when a
tidal wave destroys it and everyone he knows, his whole life is set adrift. The
ghosts of his ancestors demand he return things to the way they used to be, but
Mau is starting to question ghosts and gods on general principle. He isn't the
only one on Nation; a ship from the land of the "trousermen" crashed on the
island during the wave, leaving a foul-mouthed parrot and Daphne, a young woman
whose father is 138th in line for the British throne. Together, Mau and Daphne
have to survive, find purpose in their lives, and protect the other wave
survivors who land on Nation. Meanwhile, the ghosts keep calling, and the
island's secrets wait to be discovered.
Terry Pratchett is a funny
man, no question. His Discworld books, a series of gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle)
fantasy parodies, teem with puns, banter, wit, and even the occasional joke. Nation is largely
straight-faced, but it does have Pratchett's other two great strengths as a
writer: his knack for storytelling, and his humanism. That humanism in
particular stands out—as Mau and Daphne struggle to define themselves,
their perspectives are described in the sympathetic, warm tones of an author
who's seen far enough to know that the further out you go, the closer you are
to coming home.
As far as plotting goes, Nation's main thread is strong,
although some of the more esoteric elements aren't as effective. Pratchett
makes points about the nature of gods and the wonders of science, but they fade
in comparison to the main characters' grounded, day-to-day efforts just to get
by. Many of Nation's
conflicts will be familiar to his fans; the antagonist's particular brand of
psychosis has often plagued Pratchett's work. But the familiarity seems less
like a lack of imagination than like an acknowledgement that some evils can't
be resolved. Pratchett doesn't fulfill all his ambitions, but his failures
don't detract much from his successes. Nation is a young-adult novel
that tries to teach children how to be adults; at worst, it's a solid adventure
story, and at best, it asks hard questions and demands its readers show their
work.